The Deep South — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi — is home to rich histories of strength and resiliency against all odds. Despite this perseverance, residents and communities across the Deep South are still experiencing the far-reaching consequences of funding cuts to vital support programs such as health care, housing, education and public infrastructure. Across the Deep South, people with low incomes are more likely to rely on these programs to meet their basic needs. Indeed, these programmatic cuts place people experiencing poverty — some 14% of residents in Georgia — at risk of losing access to doctors, safe and stable housing, and even food simply because they cannot afford it without assistance. Evidence continuously demonstrates that government support is vital to healthy families, communities and ultimately the United States as a whole. As such, there is ample opportunity for policymakers to prioritize people and families that need it most by increasing the infrastructure, income, housing and nutrition support available to residents of the Deep South.
Definitions to know
- In the U.S. Census, AIAN stands for American Indian and Alaska Native.
- The U.S. Census Bureau considers census blocks with more than 2,000 housing units or 5,000 people to be urban, while all other areas are rural.
- Citizen Voting Age Population – includes US citizens who are of voting age (18 years of age or older). This population may include individuals who are ineligible to vote for reasons other than lack of citizenship or who are under 18 years of age and preregistered.
- Disability numbers include both physical and mental difficulties.
- Food insecurity – when people do not have enough to eat or know where their next meal will come from.
- Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that provides free or low-cost medical coverage to individuals and families with low incomes.
- In the U.S. Census, NHPI stands for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander.
- Owner-occupied homes are those inhabited by the owner of the home.
- The Census Bureau defines the poverty line as the minimum income needed for a family or individual to meet basic living expenses. It is based on nationally set income thresholds that vary by family size and composition but do not change by location.
- The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, provides monthly food assistance and support for purchases of healthy food for working families with low-incomes, adults with low incomes age 60 and older, and disabled people with fixed incomes.
- The WIC program is a federally funded nutrition assistance program that provides supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and health care referrals to pregnant people with low incomes, postpartum and breastfeeding parents, and infants and children who are at risk of malnutrition.
Demographics
Race and Ethnicity
Georgia is home to 10.8 million people who are 50% (5.4 million) white, 31% (3.4 million) Black, 4% (468,000) Asian, and 4% (379,000) multiracial, according to the 2019-2023 American Community Survey (ACS). Native American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or other races make up less than 1% (75,000) of the population combined. In total, 11% (1.1 million) identify as Latinx and 89% (9.7 million) are not Latinx.
The Atlanta metropolitan area is the largest urban area in the state and includes the five most populous counties: Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb and Clayton. Black residents are the majority in 18 of Georgia’s 159 counties. Hancock County has the highest share of Black residents at 71%. Whitfield County has the highest Latinx population percentage with 37%. Forsyth County has the highest percentage of Asian residents at 18%.
Rural and Urban Population
According to 2020 census data, Georgia has 4.4 million households. Of those, 73% (3.2 million) are in urban areas, 6 percentage points lower than the national rate. The U.S. Census Bureau considers census blocks with more than 2,000 housing units or 5,000 people to be urban, while all other areas are rural. Eleven counties have 90% or more of their households in urban areas, while 66 counties are 90% or more rural.
Voting and Registration
As of fall 2024, Georgia has nearly 7 million active registered voters. White residents are the majority of registered voters (53%), followed by Black residents (29%). Latinx residents (4%), Asian residents (3%), and residents of unknown racial and ethnic backgrounds (9%) collectively make up 16% of the electorate. Fulton County (43% Black, 37% white, 8% Latinx) has the most registered voters (750,000). Black voters make up the majority of registered voters in 18 counties — the highest percentage is Clayton County at 69%.
Poverty
According to 2019-2023 ACS data, the poverty rate in Georgia is about 1 percentage point higher than the national average at 13.5%, amounting to over 1.4 million people. The Census Bureau defines the poverty line as the minimum income needed for a family or individual to meet basic living expenses, based on nationally set income thresholds that vary by family size and composition but do not change by location. Poverty rates are higher for younger residents than older residents. Of children under the age of 18, 19% live in poverty, or about 468,000 youth. The rate is lower for individuals age 65 and older at 11% and among people ages 18-64 at 12%. In Hancock County (71% Black, 26% white, 1% Latinx), more than two-thirds of youth under the age of 18 live in poverty.
Poverty rates also vary by racial and ethnic groups in Georgia. Black residents have the highest poverty rate at 19%, though 2 percentage points lower than the national average. In contrast, only 9% of white residents live below the poverty line, about the same as the national poverty rate for white residents. The percentage of Latinx residents living in poverty is 18%, 1 point higher than the national average. Multiracial and Asian residents also have poverty rates near their respective national rates of 15% and 10%. Terrell County (60% Black, 36% white, 2% Latinx) has the highest poverty rate at 33%. Forsyth County (64% white, 10% Latinx, 4% Black) has the lowest poverty rate at 4%.
Income and Employment
Georgia’s median household income is $74,664, nearly $4,000 lower than the national median of $78,538, according to 2019-2023 ACS data. Latinx, white and multiracial median incomes are near the national average, while Black median income exceeds the national average and Asian median income lags. The Black median income is $57,694 in Georgia, more than $4,000 higher than the national median. Although Asian residents have the highest median income in Georgia, at $105,123, it is nearly $8,000 lower than the national median of $113,106 for that population. The median income is $85,961 for white residents, $68,348 for Latinx residents, and $72,883 for multiracial residents, which are all close to the national averages.
There is a wide variation in income levels across geography in Georgia. Forsyth County has the highest overall median income at $138,000. Twenty-five counties exceed the national median income, including Oconee, Fayette, and Cherokee counties, where median income exceeds $100,000. Randolph County (68% Black, 27% white, 4% Latinx) in the southwest part of the state has the lowest median income with $25,425.
Median income for Black and white residents also varies by geography. Median income for white residents is highest in Fulton County at $135,031 and lowest in Jeff Davis County at $42,045. Dawson County has the highest median income for Black residents, but the Black population is small at just 2%. Brantley County, which is 3% Black, has the lowest median income for Black residents at $19,919.
According to 2019-2023 ACS data, Georgia’s unemployment rate is about the same as the national unemployment rate at 5.1%. Overall, most large racial and ethnic groups have lower unemployment rates than their respective national levels; however, there are significant differences across race, ethnicity and geography. Unemployment for white residents in Georgia is 3.7%, which is only a half a percentage point lower than the national rate. Latinx unemployment in Georgia is 4.2%, nearly 2 points below the national rate. The unemployment rate for Black residents is higher than all other racial and ethnic groups, at 7.7%, but it is 1 percentage point lower than the national rate for Black residents. Quitman County (50% Black, 48% white, 1% Latinx) has the highest overall unemployment rate at 31% and has the highest unemployment rate for Black residents at 49%. The unemployment rate for Latinx residents is highest in Telfair County (48% white, 36% Black, 15% Latinx) at 53%.
Education in Georgia: Access, Funding and Attainment
Statewide, educational attainment in Georgia is similar to national levels. According to 2019-2023 ACS data, the statewide rate of residents with a high school diploma is 89%, which is very close to the national rate of bachelor’s degree attainment at 34%, or 2.5 million people.
While education rates for white residents trail national markers, Black and multiracial residents exceed their respective national rates. Among white residents in Georgia, 92% have a high school education, 2 percentage points behind the national rate of 94%, and 38% have a bachelor’s degree, which is 1 percentage point lower than the national rate. On the other hand, 89% of Black residents in Georgia have a high school diploma, 1 point above the national rate for Black residents, and 27% have a bachelor’s degree, which is 2 points above the national rate. Among multiracial residents, 32% have a bachelor’s degree, which is 4 percentage points above the national rate of 28%. Latinx residents in Georgia also have a higher attainment rate, with 22% holding a bachelor’s degree compared to 20% of Latinx residents nationwide.
The average county in Georgia spends $13,329 per pupil on public education. Clay County, which is 60% Black, spends $29,383 per pupil, the most in the state in 2023. This is about $20,000 more per pupil than Long County (54% white, 25% Black, 13% Latinx), which spends the least in the state. School spending tends to be higher in counties with a higher poverty rate and lower in high income counties.
Georgians and the Criminal Legal System
Rates of incarceration in jails and prisons in Georgia differ by group. A prison is a long-term correctional facility operated by state or federal governments for individuals convicted of serious crimes, typically felonies, and serving sentences longer than one year, while a jail is a short-term facility run by local authorities (counties or cities) for individuals awaiting trial, serving short sentences (usually less than a year), or held for minor offenses. Over 47,000 people were incarcerated in state prisons in Georgia in 2021.i The state prison population is majority-Black at 59%. An additional 37% of incarcerated individuals were white, and about 4% were Latinx. Incarceration in state prisons is 1.2 times higher than the national rate, with 427 per 100,000 Georgia residents incarcerated in state prisons.
Black residents in Georgia are incarcerated at the highest rate. Among Black residents, 837 per 100,000 are incarcerated. While this is the highest demographic in the state, it is below the national incarceration rate for Black residents of 911 per 100,000. White residents are incarcerated in state prisons at a rate of 314 per 100,000 — about 1.7 times higher than the national rate for white residents, which is 188 per 100,000. The incarceration rate for Latinx residents is 186 per 100,000, less than half the national rate for Latinx residents.
Nearly 45,000 Georgia residents were incarcerated in state jails in 2019. Black residents made up 51% of the state jail population. White residents were 44% of the state jail population and 4% were Latinx. The state jail incarceration rate is more than double the national rate for jails: 422 per 100,000 versus 199 per 100,000 nationally. Black residents face the highest rate at 693 per 100,000 — 1.2 times higher than the national rate of 558 per 100,000. The white incarceration rate in state jails is 359 per 100,000, more than double the national rate. The incarceration rate for Latinx residents in state jails is 188 per 100,000, which is 1.3 times higher than the national rate of 147 per 100,000.
Housing
Homeownership
In Georgia, the rate of owner-occupied residences is about the same as the national rate. According to 2019-2023 ACS data, 65% of residences in Georgia are owner-occupied. Owner-occupied homes are those in which the owner of the home also lives in the home. Rates vary significantly by county. Twiggs County (55% white, 41% Black, 1% Latinx) has the highest rate at 90%. Chattahoochee County (54% white, 18% Black, 17% Latinx) is on the opposite end of the spectrum with a 36% owner-occupied rate.
Each of the large racial and ethnic groups in Georgia have a higher owner-occupied rate than the national rate. White residents have a 76% owner-occupied rate, which is 3 percentage points higher than the white rate nationally of 73%. Asian residents have the next highest owner-occupied rate at 70%, 8 percentage points above the national rate for Asian residents of 62%. Multiracial households have a 59% rate, 4 percentage points above the national rate for multi-racial households of 55%. The Latinx owner-occupied rate is 54%, 3 percentage points above the national rate for Latinx residents of 51%. Lastly, although the Black owner-occupied rate at 50% is the lowest, it is 6 percentage points above the national rate for Black residents of 44%.
The share of owner-occupied dwellings that are Black households is much higher than the national rate. Black households make up 24% of the owner-occupied residences in the state, 16 percentage points higher than the 8% national share. Clayton County has the highest share of Black owner-occupied residences at 66%. Black residents are the majority of owner-occupied households in 10 counties total in the state. Latinx households are 6% of the owner-occupied households in Georgia, 5 percentage points below the national rate. Whitfield County has the highest share for Latinx residents in the state at 24%. Multiracial and Asian households make up a tiny share of owner-occupied households in the state: 5% and 4%, respectively.
Compared to the nation, Georgia has lower housing costs. According to 2019-2023 ACS data, the median home value in Georgia is $297,000 compared to the national median of $337,900. Forsyth County has the highest median in the state at $503,700. Nine counties have median home values higher than the national median. The lowest is Stewart County (60% Black, 25% white, 11% Latinx) at $70,600.
Renting
According to 2019-2023 ACS data, the median rent (which includes houses and apartments) in Georgia is $1,306, compared to $1,348 nationwide. Forsyth County has the highest median rent at $1,937. The lowest median rent is in Clinch County (64% white, 26% Black, 6% Latinx) at $505.
Even with the relative affordability of housing in Georgia, thousands of people face losing access to shelter. In 2018, the most recent data, nearly 284,000 people were evicted across the state. The majority of evictions were in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Over 152,000 (54%) of evictions took place in 2018 across only five counties: Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton. The most evictions were in Fulton County, with over 50,000.
Various government programs exist to help provide housing and shelter. The Housing Choice Voucher program spent nearly $418 million on more than 56,000 leases in Georgia in 2024. Formerly known as “Section 8” vouchers, the housing choice voucher program is administered by local Public Housing Authorities and funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Vouchers allow recipients to find housing on the private market. Tenants typically pay 30% of their income toward rent and the voucher covers the rest. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) impacted 1,469 properties and nearly 135,000 units in Georgia in 2022. Black households make up 48% of the households in LIHTC units, 14% are white, and 34% are unknown. Nearly 53,000 Georgia residents live in public housing, and 74% of public housing residents are people of color.
Homelessness
There were over 12,000 people experiencing homelessness in Georgia, according to 2023 data. Of people experiencing homelessness, 58% are Black, 37% are white, and 3% are multiracial.
In 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled that cities can enforce bans on homeless camping, even if people experiencing homelessness do not have any place else to go. Just recently, an Atlanta man, Cornelius Taylor, was crushed inside his tent by a bulldozer when government officials sanctioned the clearing of the encampment he was living in, an extreme result in a system where affordable housing does not meet demand.
Federal resources are available to support students experiencing homelessness. Title I is a component of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act that provides funding to schools serving a high percentage of families with low incomes. To ensure homeless youth are provided with support through Title I, the McKinney-Vento Act is a federal law designed to address the unique educational challenges faced by students experiencing homelessness and ensure services are provided in schools for the homeless population. In fiscal year 2024, Georgia received just over $4 million in McKinney/Title 1 funding. About 31,000 youth and students were experiencing homelessness in 2020-2021.ii Over half of youth and students experiencing homelessness are Black, 30% are white, 13% are Latinx, and 5% are multiracial.
Health Insurance
According to 2019-2023 ACS data, over 1.3 million residents, 13% of the Georgia population, do not have health insurance. This rate is 4 percentage points higher than the national rate. About 9% of white residents do not have insurance statewide, compared to 12% of Black residents and 30% of Latinx residents. Wheeler County (56% white, 38% Black, 4% Latinx) has the highest rate in the state with 24% of the population uninsured. Chattahoochee County has the lowest uninsured rate at 5%. The rate of uninsured Black residents is 56% in Rabun County (87% white, 9% Latinx, 1% Black). The highest rate of uninsured for Latinx residents is Webster County (49% Black, 42% white, 7% Latinx) at 81%.
According to 2019-2023 ACS data, about 1.9 million Georgia residents, 18% of the population, are enrolled in Medicaid, which is about 3 percentage points lower than the national rate of 21%. Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that provides free or low-cost medical coverage to low-income individuals and families. At the county level, there is wide variation in enrollment rates. Randolph County leads the state with 52%, while Forsyth County has only 6% enrolled. Enrollment rates are generally higher in counties with higher rates of poverty, food insecurity, diabetes, obesity, and SNAP enrollment.
Access to Food and Cash Assistance
About 11% of Georgia residents report experiencing food insecurity — defined as patterns of reduced food quality or intake according to the USDA — which is just slightly above the national rate of 10%, according to 2024 data. The highest rate is found in Treutlen County (64% white, 31% Black, 1% Latinx) at 19%.
Approximately 151,000 Georgia residents participate in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. The WIC program is a federally funded nutrition assistance program in the U.S. that provides supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and health care referrals to low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, as well as infants and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk. The highest number of recipients, 11,560, is located in Gwinnett County (32% white, 28% Black, 23% Latinx).
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program supported an average of 15,834 recipients and an average caseload of 8,668 statewide per month in 2020, spending nearly $27 million over the year. TANF supported 4,400 people in 1,789 cases in June 2021, and spending amounted to $374,000. The TANF program is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides cash assistance to families experiencing financial crises to help them afford their basic needs. Fulton County had the most recipients, 2,200, and the most cases, 1,062. The number of TANF recipients corresponds closely with population; however, Gwinnett and Cobb (48% white, 26% Black, 15% Latinx) counties have lower recipients than would be expected given their high populations.
TANF Recipients in Georgia and County Population by Race, Monthly Average 2020
The Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) serves nearly 138,000 households in Georgia providing essential support for energy bills, including heating and cooling costs in 2023. The program delivered over $159 million in assistance statewide.
According to 2019-2023 ACS data, participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, is about the same in Georgia compared to the national rate of 12%. Randolph County has the highest percentage of people enrolled in SNAP, with 41% of its residents receiving SNAP benefits.
Together, these initiatives highlight the importance of continued investment in Georgia’s safety net programs to meet the needs of vulnerable populations and promote economic growth.
Infrastructure
Georgia has received significant federal funding for infrastructure and development through recent legislative initiatives. For example, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated over $4.8 billion to infrastructure projects across the state, supporting improvements in transportation, energy systems, and public facilities since its passage in 2021. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act provided $297 million for various initiatives in Georgia since it passed in 2022.
Georgia’s vulnerability to weather-related threats and natural disasters is evident in the high number of disaster declarations and substantial financial assistance provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Since 2002, Georgia has experienced 1,928 federally declared disasters, reflecting the state’s exposure to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and other severe weather events.
FEMA Applications and Payments in Georgia, 2002-2024
From 2002 to 2024, over 130,000 homeowners in Georgia applied for FEMA assistance, receiving a total of more than $244 million in aid. Renters have also been significantly impacted, with nearly 110,000 applications resulting in $242 million in assistance. Combined, renters and homeowners in Georgia submitted more than 240,000 applications, leading to nearly $487 million in federal disaster relief. Richmond County (55% Black, 32% white, 6% Latinx) has the highest number of applicants, 41,000, accounting for 17% of all applications in the state and over $51 million.
Georgia has benefited from substantial federal funding for infrastructure and disaster relief, addressing both development needs and the challenges posed by its vulnerability to natural disasters. These efforts underscore the importance of federal investments in supporting Georgia’s infrastructure, resilience and recovery.
The Solution
In conclusion, there are several opportunities to improve the quality of life for Georgians across the board, particularly for people and families of color, who are more likely to be impacted by cuts to the social safety net. As this brief demonstrates, policymakers can and should prioritize the following to vastly improve racial disparities:
Maintain and expand access to programs that help people afford basic needs such as food, medical care, and housing. Research demonstrates that economic security programs can help people meet their basic needs and work towards becoming self-sufficient. Because barriers to opportunity — including unequal access to education, transportation, food, and employment — remain particularly high in the Deep South, and contribute to a high number of people experiencing poverty. Further investing in economic security programs helps everyone across the Deep South, regardless of race and income, meet their goals and have the opportunity to thrive.
Continue efforts to integrate and ultimately center people with lived experience in the efforts to decrease the impacts of poverty across the state. People impacted by poverty can provide effective solutions, and centering the people most impacted can help ensure that policies addressing poverty center racial equity. For example, creating an interagency council for people experiencing homelessness would allow people who are impacted by housing instability to have their experiences reflected in the policies addressing homelessness.